Hopeless But Not Romantic
by DearSweetPapercut
Summary: "If anyone objects to this union, speak now or forever hold you peace." The words rung out into the church and they seemed to sink to Greg's consciousness as a chance he knew he would never have again.


...because I don't think I can write enough Sandle

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Disclaimer: I own zilch

**Hopeless but Not Romantic **

The sunset stretched out across the sky in a patchwork quilt of colour; the oranges and reds not doing anything to warm Sara as she stood surrounded by the heavy connotations of cigarette smoke. With a deep breath she leant against the wall attempting to disappear into the shadows of the hotel building, and out of the view of her soon to be mother-in-law.

"Hiding from the mother in law already" A familiar voice muttered in her ear. Sara turned to see her best friend beside her a bunch of gardenias hanging limply at his side. He smiled nervously at her leaning against the wall offering her the flowers. "Congratulations on the marriage thing..."

"Gee thanks Greg...don't sound too enthusiastic" She smiled back taking a long drag from her cigarette and the flowers from his hand.

"Are you nervous?" Greg asked with a small smile his eyes on the sky watching birds disappear over the buildings.

"No why would I be?" Sara snapped at him frowning in his direction not that he had noticed.

"I was just asking...no need to bite my head off..." He replied squeezing her shoulder in attempts to sooth her.

"Sorry...I guess I am a bit nervous..." She took a deep breath. "A lot nervous...actually..."

"Want to talk about it?" Greg asked tangling his fingers with hers. Sara gave him a grateful smile pulling him to the ground with her sitting with their backs against the wall.

"It's just...I never thought I would want to get married. After watching my parents, after seeing what marriage can do I didn't think I would be happy to commit to someone in that way. I always thought I was better off on my own...And now I'm here promising someone that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with them..." She began talking shrugging every so often worried that Greg would judge her but from the soft smile on his lips she soon found herself relaxing.

"Do you love him?" He asked quietly his eyes focused on the grass surrounding them.

"...I do..." She replied slowly her voice shaking slightly.

"Then hold on...Because forever won't seem like long enough afterwards..." Greg spoke as if they were sharing a secret.

"Forever's a long time..." Sara responded in a daze her eyes staring at the dimming sky.

"Not when you love someone with everything you have" Greg shrugged with a sad smile.

"Have you ever loved anyone like that?" She whispered turning to face him, he looked up their eyes meeting and it felt as if the world had slowed.

"Once" he muttered back to her.

"What happened?" Sara couldn't help it.

"She is...She's happy..." Greg turned away not being able to watch her knowing that she was the person he knew he would love with the whole of his heart. She was the first women that he had fallen for so fast, so hard and he realised that now it was time to let go, to let her be happy.

"I'm not sure I can stand up there and tell him I'll love him forever. That I can give him my heart and soul no matter what and even if I can... what's to say he'll even turn up? He's let me down enough times before...I'm... scared. What if I let him down? ...I'm terrified I won't be enough." Sara said honestly letting all the doubts turn to words that fell heavily between them.

"I know you're scared...but when you look into his eyes as you walk down the aisle, you'll know. It'll fall into place." Greg attempted to reassure her.

"What if that doesn't happen?" She asked nervously. "I'm scared I won't feel that way. I'm scared I'll think I made a mistake"

"Then it was never meant to be him..." He replied quietly. "And you can run away...start again..."

Silence fell between them as Sara looked to the sky imagining running away from her own wedding day; the shocked expression of her guests, the looks of despair from Grissom and the strange sense of freedom she would feel as she escaped into the afternoon sun.

"Sara did you really think we'd let you skip on your own party?" Catherine's voice shocked them both shattering the facade they had created.

"Sorry...just came out for a smoke..." She uttered the excuse knowing that she was going to be dragged away from Greg.

"Well you're done with your cigarette so come on..." The older woman announced standing with her hands on her hips.

Sara leant forwards pressing a kiss to Greg's cheek before pulling herself up, the flowers he had given her cradled in her hand; with one last glance at him she disappeared inside.

* * *

Greg woke with his heart beat in his head, the white walls of his hotel room imposing on his vision as he attempted to adjust to the day. Scraps of the previous night seemed to float through his head- the drinks were all hitting him in one go.

The clock in the corner of the room spoke of how late he was but if he was honest he didn't care. He didn't want to a part of today.

Taking a deep breath he pulled himself too his feet fighting against the desire to simply just fall back asleep. Sara would be wondering where he was and as much as it hurt to let go of her he didn't want to let her down. So instead of hiding from the truth about his broken heart Greg forced himself to shower and put on the suit that he had laid out the previous day.

With one last look in the mirror he walked out of the door on his way to watching the woman he loved marry someone else.

* * *

"You look beautiful..." Brass commented as Sara gripped hold of his arm preparing herself for what was about to happen.

"Thank you..." She muttered back taking a deep breath.

The sound of the organs playing indicated that it was time- with one last look at the man walking her down the aisle, the doors opened and everyone's eyes were on her. She could feel her breathing catch in her chest feeling self conscious from all the attention.

Sara caught Grissom's eye and the way he looked at her gave her butterflies but it was the further she got down the aisle that she realised that she wanted to run. Forever; the word seemed to resound in her mind and as she glanced around in search of Greg's support she found he was not there. Sara's chest tightened even more.

She needed him, she needed Greg to be there in the congregation urging her on and giving her faith that love did exist and you really could find 'happily ever after' but he wasn't there and she replayed his words over and over again in her mind with every step.

A short walk had never took this long before, she stared at the thick red carpet her eyes searching for inspiration that wasn't there. Brass's hand tightened around her arm pulling her back to reality, returning her vision to the man she was about to marry and panic welled up inside her. Her dress suddenly felt tighter than it ever had, it constricted her breathing and made it hard to move. Her heels sunk into the carpet and her legs were like jelly, trembling below her as they desperately fought to keep her upright. The beautiful flowers in her hands shook and trembled showing anyone who looked close enough how scared she was.

She took one more glance around the room, everyone's eyes on her. People were smiling, their eyes dancing with pride and joy and expectation. These were the people she loved; everyone in this room meant something to her if only she could see Greg. If only the person who meant the most would catch her eye and remind her that everything was going to be ok.

* * *

The ceremony began and it became clear to Sara that she didn't have the strength to run- to walk away from everything. She was terrified about the prospect of marriage but she was even more scared of the idea of waking up and realising that she'd let go of someone that truly loved her.

The sound of the door opening caught everyone's attention as Greg snuck in with an apologetic smile. He looked exhausted but no one was bothered saying a word simply just giving him evils as made his way to his seat.

Sara caught his eye over Grissom's shoulder and from her gaze he knew that she was scared- that she had realised something and did not know how to react. They didn't seem able to tear their eyes away from each other. And as Sara looked at Greg she noticed that past the exhaustion there was heart break in his eyes.

_"If anyone objects to this union, speak now or forever hold you peace." _The words rung out into the church and they seemed to sink to Greg's consciousness as a chance he knew he would never have again.

"I...I have something I'd like to say..." Greg nervously cleared his throat standing up on his shaky feet. "I've probably picked the worst time to do this but I just realised that if I don't say all of these things now then I never will. And I don't want to regret not telling you how I feel for the rest of my life. Sara I'm in love with you. I have been from the moment I met you."

Catherine hissed at him to sit down but Greg just glanced at her blankly ignoring the angry looks Nick and their colleagues were sending his way.

"I tried to tell myself I could be happy...if you were happy. I tried to let you go but I can't do it anymore. I can't pretend. I wanted to be the person by your side. I wanted to be the man that made you laugh and smile...the man who wiped away your tears. You're incredible. You're smart, funny and so beautiful. I never thought I could feel this way- and now I know I could never feel this way about anyone else. And I know you probably don't feel the same way. But if you did I would do everything to make you happy... I'd never let you go. I'm sorry but I can't stay here and watch you give your heart to someone else..."

Greg took a deep breath realising that there were no more secrets; he had laid his heart on the line. He began walking towards the door leaving everyone in awe as they attempted to gather what had just happened. The sound of his footsteps rang through the building and Sara was forced to watch him walk away tears welling up in her eyes.

He'd gone. As Sara turned to Grissom the words Greg had said to her the previous night ran through her head once more and it was as if everything had fallen into place.

"I'm so sorry" She gasped quickly made her way down the aisle running into the afternoon sun as she had imagined. Everyone's eyes were on her once again but she didn't care for once she knew exactly what she wanted.

"Greg wait..." Sara shouted trying to catch up with him her wedding dress getting in the way. "Things have fallen into place..." She said breathlessly waiting for him to turn around. Greg turned to face her speechless at the fact she was standing before him.

"Greg...you are the man that makes me laugh, smile and wipes away my tears. And I don't want you to stop being him. I don't want to lose you. I loved you from the moment I met you. And now I realise...I'm in love with you..."

Without a word he moved towards her pulling Sara into his arms placing his lips on hers. Greg kissed her with every doubt and every ounce of honesty he could muster. He could feel her heartbeat and smell the flowers that had been placed in the intricate knots in her hair. The kiss was earth shattering, their hands shaking as their fingers tangled together. Greg pulled away slowly looking into Sara's eyes realising that this was the start of forever, whispering the only thing he could think to say to her.

"Run away with me"

All of the years that had been spent wondering about the future seemed to disappear as Sara looked at Greg- she realised that never had a moment felt so right. As long as he was by her side they would weather all the storms because he was her soul mate, her other half, her happy ever after.

**The End**


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